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Manscaped even threw in two free gifts to their Performance Package 5.0, the Manscaped Boxers and the Shed Travel Bag. I have both of those and they are both awesome. Get 20% off and free shipping with the code THPN at Manscaped.com. Ask 20% off plus free shipping with the code THPN at Manscaped.com. It's smooth summer boys. Get on board or get left behind. Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome everybody to the HockeyThink Tank Podcast brought to you by the hockeythinktank.com website for all players, parents and coaches to go to get a little bit of education and a little bit of inspiration regarding the greatest game on the planet. What an episode we have for you guys here today. We're bringing on one of Vex's former teammates, Olivier Lautan Dress. Olivier is from the Montreal Quebec area, played his junior hockey in the QMJHL before embarking on a 14 year professional hockey career played in Europe over with Vex as part of that stint and this guy is a smart, smart, smart hockey man and we had an awesome conversation with him. Before we do get over to Olivier, let's bring on another awesome dude and one Jeffery GMBMJ Hugh Levechkyo Vex. What's up today, brother? What's up, my man? Pretty cool week, bro. Pretty cool week. I opened up the new gym that I just redid here in St. Louis, another location like a satellite location for my GMT, give more training company here. So now I'll be running three separate programs, off ice training in three separate locations here in St. Louis. So really, really, really cool, really exciting, really fun. The more players that I can impact with their details and their habits and smarter training. For me, I want to do it in St. Louis first, I've been getting asked if I would franchise out what I do all across the country for years. But I want to do it in multiple rings in St. Louis first partnering with the organizations and offering all the different things that I do, A, so that there's proof in the pudding and then so I can systematize it and be able to recreate this all over the country and get the exact same results. And you know, location three, just opened up here, so that's pretty exciting. That is pretty cool. We did that too with the youth hockey blueprint that we do at the hockey think tank. We started with three. And you're one just to make sure we're working out the kinks and sure we have an awesome product. And we've just grown it and grown it and grown it. And yeah, you learn a lot through the first little bit and make it better and better with each club that you work with. And that's really cool. Man, GMT. It is GMBM, but it's also a subsidiary of GMBM worldwide. That is my parent company just, you know, yes, and I did make my and I did make my parent company named GMBM worldwide because it's like prestige worldwide. Yes. I did do that. But yeah, and how important is it that you did the well done stuff if you're watching YouTube right now, you're laughing. That killed me. How important was it looking back now that you did that and you just you just did it. You did three. How important was it to do those three, learn what you learned and then be able to do all of the organization that you are now working with so important, like so many coaches reach out to me, whether they're strength coaches or they're skill coaches or they're people trying to podcast in the hockey world. Just do it, man. Give me advice. Give me advice. How do I start guys? The best advice is just start, just start, start, start, start, start, learn, adapt, apply every day that you move forward, but you have to start. Yeah. Yeah. 100% and you learn and you do something really well. You do some things not so well that you need to change and then you can do those things even better the next time and just provide more and more and more value to the people that you're working with and at the end of the day, just, you know, changing lives and adding value and yeah, but it's a learning process, but you got to start. You have to start. You can't get anywhere unless you start first, but that's the hardest part. It is so much harder going from zero to one than it is to go from one to two. To ten. Dude. 100%. Fear of failure, you know, fear of making mistakes, fear of judgment, fear of criticism, comparison, whatever. That's what doesn't get people going from zero to one. But once you get from zero to one, you learn that it wasn't that hard going from zero to one and then you have the confidence to go from one to ten. And then when you get to four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, you look back and you're like, wow, I thought I was good at one and I sucked, but I'm when I'm at now because every day, learn adapt apply, learn adapt apply, learn adapt apply, and as long as you're putting out value every single day along that journey, you're doing right by everybody else. Yeah. 100% man. Learned adapt apply. Great. Also great. See that. Trans. Olivier. Lots of address. Yeah. Such an awesome conversation. I told you you're going to love this guy. Hard hockey dude, man. Wise. Yeah. Just remember just always even though I forgot he's you're younger than me, but he played more years pro than me. He played 14. I was 10. Very wise, very wise. You guys are going to love this episode. Him and Toph remind me like they're very similar in the way that they're able to zoom out in the way that they look at the game. Wait till you hear what he says at the end about basketball and hockey and coaching and teamwork. That's exactly who Toph is and it was really cool to hear that. So you guys are going to really like this one. There's a lot of good stuff here. 100% man. So let's get over to him. But first we got some people that we want to thank first our title sponsor ice hockey systems.com the best website out there for all your coaching education needs. They got thousands of drills. They got whiteboard explanations from some unbelievably smart hockey peelable. They have an ability to go in and draw your drills up digitally, send them out to your team before practice. Send them to your parents and we have also partnered with them to do an association platform where you can get this for every single coach in your organization. Imagine having a drill library or a practice plan library for all of your coaches. Unbelievable value add go to ice hockey systems.com today. Look up that associations tab and get it for your org. Thanks. I want to say thank you to train hero train road because the unbelievable app that allows me to train thousands of hockey players every single year and not athletes alike. If you're looking for training for your team or yourself or your entire organization, please just DM me reach out to me. I can facilitate that no matter what equipment you have available to you no matter what the age again I think now it's honestly up to 24,000 plus athletes when I look the other day it's it's I can help videos of everything. It's not a PDF you're literally going to be coached by me with everything I have you do. USHL D1 D3, NOL, PRO, I've done everybody and teams at every level so please just reach out to me and thank you to train heroic. Also want to say thank you to cure nutrition guys know I've had 14 conks, dome doesn't work like it used to CBD I've been taking every day. Since my last season where I played with Ali here on the podcast, if you have questions about CBD, please just reach out to who, what, when, where, why, how, all those different things. I would love to help you. I'm a big advocate for plants over pills. You can go to curenutrition.com use my discount code GMBM or just hit me up and ask me any question about CBD that I can help. Love it man. I also want to thank a new sponsor and that is crossbar guys. The amount of people that have reached out to me about crossbar since they came on as a podcast sponsor and a partner with what we do has been absolutely insane. And so many youth organizations are in need of an upgrade with their website and just their digital platform that they use and crossbar is an unbelievable end to end software solution for like managing your organization. So here are some of the things that they do. There's a modern website design registration set up for anything, whether it's your team for the year, whether it's lessons, drop ins, anything like that. It's all done in this formula. There's a scheduler for your club. There's a five star mobile app with communication where you can communicate with your team and communicate with your club financial tools and reporting. There's volunteer management, facility, rank management, like this is a one stop shop for your organization and hockey directors that I know obviously we do our research before we partner with people and so wanted to make sure and it's funny like as I go through so many different youth organization's websites so many more are getting away from sports engine and going towards crossbar because like this is just a phenomenal, phenomenal product. So go to crossbar.com and look it up. This is it's it's it's an honestly a no brainer for any youth organization out there. And then lastly want to thank Helios hockey Helios is an unbelievable product. It's a sensor that you put in your shoulder pads. That gives you real time data, real time feedback on your play. So some of the specific things that are really big with what they do, they have a hustle score which is incredible and hustle score that all the young kids do and there's a leaderboard where you can kind of compare yourself to all the other kids around the country which is really, really cool. Also there's a lot of different stuff for your stride mechanics that can help you with your stride obviously skating big part of the game today. And so Helios hockey helps with that also game changer. It links up with any video that you have. So whether it's live barn, whether it's your iPhone, whether it's an iPad, whether it's a digital camera, whatever it may be it links up with that. You have your shifts from a game cut up for you directly right after the game. Dude, this is an absolute game changer. So go to Helios hockey.com. It's 20% off by using the coupon code think tank one word, 20% off your pro annual or pro 24 month subscriptions. You can also get this for your entire team too. If you go to Helios hockey.com/peams and another unbelievable product. So go to Helios hockey.com also, thank you, thank you, thank you to all our listeners. We absolutely love you guys so, so much. And if you could do a solid by helping us, we appreciate just on social media or on your podcast apps, every like every comment, every download, every rating, every follow, like this stuff helps to even more legitimize our podcast. We've been doing this for five years now, a million downloads way over a million down to now. Come on, let's go. Stay with it for quite a time on our on our way to 8 billion. Yeah, we're close to 8 billion. But yeah, just anything that you can do when there's, you know, it's one of those things when there's more likes and there's more followers and there's more downloads and ratings and stuff, people who are looking for hockey podcasts, they say, Oh, this is pretty legit. So they'll come in and they'll listen to some podcasts and we like to think that we're adding a lot of value to the hockey world with what we do. And again, we appreciate any way you can help us to spread the message and add a little bit more positivity and perspective into this hockey world. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you to all of our listeners. You guys are going to absolutely love this podcast conversation. So without further ado, here we go with Olivier Lattandres. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. As those of you who know who listened to our podcast, we try to give our listeners insight and perspective to be the best version of you. Whether you're a player, a coach, or even a parent, we want to provide resources to help you live your best life. And one way to do that is through talk therapy. We are huge believers in therapy. It's a great way to have some guided self reflection and to get to the root of what might be interfering with you live in your best life. It can help you to learn better coping skills, maybe set some healthy boundaries for yourself and others and can empower you to be the best version of you. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's all online and designed to be convenient, flexible to your time, and suited to your schedule. Fill out an online questionnaire and get matched with a licensed therapist, and if that one doesn't work out, you can switch therapists at any time for no additional cost. So stop comparing and start focusing with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/THPN today and get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com/THPN. Bet on the action on the ice with DraftKing Sportsbook. Download the app now and use code THPN. New customers can get $150 instantly in bonus bets for betting just $5 on hockey. Next code THPN only on DraftKing Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NHL. The crown is yours. Bonus BEX expire 168 hours after issuance. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler or visit www.1-800-Gambler.net. In New York, call 877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY-467369. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling, call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org. Please play responsibly. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort, 21+ age varies by jurisdiction, void in Ontario. Defense expire 168 hours after issuance. CDKNG.com/Hockey for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms and responsible gaming resources. NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. Copyright NHL 2023 All Rights Reserved. Hey there, everybody. It's Toph. Before we do get over to Ali, just wanted to bring something to your guys' attention, and that is the charity hockey game that I am the event chair for every year. This is the 10th year we've done it. It's called Racker Rivals Big Red, and it's out in Ithaca, New York. We raise money for a school called Racker that provides much needed special education services to so many kids around that area. Again, like I said, it's the 10th year that we've been doing it. We've raised over a million dollars in the 10 years, and a big part of that is what we call pledge a player. Everybody that plays in the game is raising money for the game, and we've got NHL Hall of Famers like Joe Newendyke in the game. We've had people like Alex Tuck and Dustin Brown and Brian Gianta and Mike Richter that have played in the past. It's an awesome event. Thousands of people come and watch the game on Cornell's campus. And so if you can do me a solid, again, this money, it goes to early childhood education for kids with special needs, and it's such an incredible resource for families in the area. I have family members in my family that have special needs, and these types of resources and services go such, such, such a long way. So if you can go to Racker.org, and there's a little button called pledge a player where you can pledge in my name and help us to win the competition. It's a competition between players or just go to anywhere on my social media. I'll have the link linked in the bio, but it would just be really, really, really appreciated for anybody that supports our podcast. You know, this money goes to an unbelievable place. So again, Racker.org and it's pledge a player where you can pledge towards my name and help us reach our goal of raising over $100,000 for this charity. And it's an amazing place. So if you can't do that, that would be absolutely fantastic. I would appreciate it so, so much. And with that, let's get over to Ali Latan dress. We are so excited to have on this episode of the podcast, all the way up in Montreal, Quebec. We got Olivier Latan dress, Olivier, how are we doing today? I'm good with you guys. I'm good that I get to see you, bro. This guy was my liney, kept me sane my last year pro when my world was falling apart a little bit there and just fed me for a lot of easy, easy goals. I was just going to say, so you were probably the the centerman who just fed Vex. Why suck that, your man. I suck. I was playing with Jeff and Babbage, you'll bear and you know, Gilly was not a happy person. And really negative and Vex wasn't about the spot in his life, I would say. So I'm trying to stay positive. Well, I can't tell you, Vex, Vex has got his Giddy hat on right now. He's been so excited to have you on the podcast for a bit now and he's been kind of chatting you up here. So I'm excited to learn about your story and also feel free at any point, you know, just just carve Vex at some point. Any stories, you know, anything that you have like that can just demolish my partner here got thousands of letters, let her rip. But first, you know, what we do with a lot of our guests here is just to introduce you to them is we ask you, how'd you fall in love with the game? And you grew up up in Quebec. Family is big in hockey. What was it that got you to fall in love with this great sport? Well, like you said, everybody in Montreal was playing hockey when I was younger. And I was born in '86, so that's the year Montreal Canadian won the 23rd Stanley Cup. And after that, I had the chance to kind of remember a little bit that 1993 Stanley Cup with Patrick Waugh and all those guys. So that's all I fell in love with the game. And like I said, everybody was playing hockey back then. There was no other option, there was no soccer, there was no basketball, it was just hockey everywhere. And especially to have a guy like Patrick Waugh and on our team was very special. It was kind of my idol when I was young. That's awesome. Like, from that standpoint, so you obviously played a lot of pro hockey and Montreal with the Canadians, it's a tough spot to be like, if you can't take the heat to say the least, you know, knowing what you know and having played pro hockey and then knowing people, I'm sure that I've gone on and played for the Canadians like, what's it like to live in Montreal and play for the Montreal Canadians? And how can they turn it around? I think especially if you're a French Canadian, it's a lot of pressure. But at the same time, it's a privilege, you know, it's a, I guess it's like a guy from New York playing for the Yankees or the Rangers. But I don't know, like everybody here is so intense with the language and stuff. So one of ours making the NHL for a Montreal Canadian is, it's unique, it's special. So I had my brother, he played three and a half years for the Canadian and it was amazing. It was a great time. Looking back, you know, like 15, 20 years after, it was crazy, crazy atmosphere just to go out at the restaurant and you meet people, everybody's such a fan here, everybody loves the Canadian. Could be hard at times, but other times it's once in a lifetime, you know, it's, it's going to happen once in a lifetime. So yeah, it was, it was special, I had the chance to, to play in one training camp with the hats, play exhibition games and that it was fun, it was fun, but I really enjoyed when I was in Phoenix and there, a little bit quieter and I can do my biting, you know, yeah. Well, we'll, we'll get to that here in a little bit as we progress through your career, but how old were you when your brother was playing for the Canadians, do you remember like the first year? Yeah, he started at 19, so I was 20, it was my first year pro, I was in the back and forward between Phoenix Roadrunners and San Antonio Rampage and the HL. Yeah, yeah, and so younger brother makes NHL before you, how does that feel as a brother? Are you proud? Like he obviously probably looked up to you and, and you know, like what was that feeling like? Well, we always played together when we were young, it was always like playing with me on my line and everybody thought he was an 86, so when we get to the Q draft, the Quebec Junior League draft, everybody was like, oh, he's an 87, so yeah, it was, it was always a good player, but everybody thought it was an 86, so you, like everybody was like, yeah, I thought you were better than him, I'm like, yeah, but he's, he's younger than him, that thing, you know, so yeah, it was, I knew he was going to make it when he was maybe not at 19 years old, I knew he was going to make it maybe at 23, 24 years old or something like that, but his first training camp at 18 years old, he had like, I don't know, like eight points in four games in the exhibition games. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Didn't you have that Vex when you played exhibition? Yeah, I actually had two goals assist to fight, I hit a guy through the glass, what's up, in seven games. Oh, yeah, seven games, so not the same, but did you make the team? I did not. Oh, okay. Yeah, brutal. Okay. He broke Charles pull up record, though. I did break Charles pull up record. I heard about it. Oh, but that's, that's amazing. How much was it? 34, 33, 34, baby. Yeah. What up? That's legit. Yeah. Yeah. So when, when my brother made it to the NHL, he was 19 years old and he was, he was always bigger than me and stronger than me physically. So there was no surprise to me. I was surprised he made it that 19 years old, but I knew was going to have a shot on me. Well, let's, let's talk a little bit about that because like we, we've had a lot of people on here, and actually it's really funny. I'm reading. So my, my kids, I got three girls and we're reading Kendall Cohen's book, Kendall Cohen's Go Fields book. That's like what we read to bed now. It's absolutely hilarious. And she has a brother and her brother was the one that got her into the game. And we've had so many different players at a played high level hockey that have had some sort of competitive nature with the brother or sister kind of growing up playing in the streets, playing in the basement, playing in the driveway, all that stuff. How do you think that contributed and how much do you think that contributed to both of your guys's rise and your love and your passion for the game of hockey? Well, I think it helped for sure, you know, like you can ask Jeff, we played together and I'm, I'm a really serious guy and really into it and I, I worked really hard. So my brother was a little different than me. He was like gifted and he was big. He had a great shot and it was a little bit lazy at times, but we compliment each other really well, you know, and he was, he was so skilled, it was so strong. But when he had the work ethic after, when he was 18, 19, 20 years old, he added the work ethic to it, that's, that's when he started lighting it up and playing the NHL and he understood what it took to play in the NHL and for me, to have a chance to practice every day with, with a guy who was in the NHL, it was, was amazing. We're working out there all the time together and every day we're together, we're skating together and yeah, a lot of friends too. So I was always in the summertime when I was in Europe, even in the NHL, I was always with NHL guys on the ice. And he helped me through, like, let's say, paying a power skating lesson, work out things and stuff, because he was like, that's my contribution for you, you know, you, you helped me all the way and I, I was not making millions in the NHL or the NHL, so it was like, if I can help you to keep working out and you're going to push me, so we're going to help each other up. Dude, that is so freaking cool. That is awesome. Would you, when did you, so Tofe, when I played with Ollie here, I think it was his third to last year playing. He went and played in France two more years. That was my last year playing 17, 18. So you know, we were, he was 31, probably I was 32, but he was dialed, man. Like Tofe and I talk about all the time, Ollie, like, you know, the best players. It's not that they're superstitious, but like, you know where to find them on game day at 20 minutes out, they're probably here 40 minutes out. They're probably doing this. And that was Ollie. I knew by different times where he was going to be, he was very routine oriented, very professional, always doing the right things for his bodies to put himself in the best position to feel the best, to play his best practice and games. Did you start that at a young age? And do you think that that rubbed off on your brother because, you know, when he started to get it, because we talk about the importance of positive mentors, you know, like good role models and how it can really make a big difference in a younger player's career. Were you that way when you were younger and do you think you learned it from you, you know? Well, I think it starts from, from my father, you know, my father was started his own company and Montreal construction company, like, let's say 30, 30 years ago. And he left home every morning at five o'clock, came back at 6, 30, 7, and he had a apartment in Montreal. So sometimes at night, he was eating and he was going to his apartment. So he had a really, really strong work ethic. And as soon as I start playing, my father was, he would never ask me like how many goals I scored, how many assists we had or something. It was always, did you work hard? Did you have fun? Like, he's like, I'm not, I'm not going to go if you don't work hard. So that's all he asked for. He was old school a little bit, but that's okay. Like, I think it helped me after that through my career and, you know, like, if you want to play for me, if you want to play at a higher level, you have to, you have to do it extra. You have to work hard. Like, there's only, there's only a few players who can get away with it. And it's going to last not so long unless you're Phil Castle or really, really special. And every year, yeah, that was my, my thinking and one other thing too is we had the chance to, I had the chance to play against Crosby when I was younger and I knew was going to be special, but his work ethic was off the chart when we played against him in junior. He was the hardest working guy in the ice, he was the best player. So when you see guys like that, you just copied down a little bit. Well, one of those guys who you played junior hockey with in the queue was Crystal Tang. And Crystal Tang is obviously riding coattails with, I don't want to say riding coattails, but he was, you know, alongside Crosby, you know, as they were winning their cups and everything like that. And you got the chance to play with them at, at that age, what was it like playing with Crystal Tang? When he came in, he was a really a cocky kid. He was really, really confident. And I think, I think that's the reason why he got to the NHL and he was, was really, really confident and he thought he could run the power play at 18, 19, 20 years old, which is a good thing. But Chris was his work ethic was really, really good. He was working hard, even in junior, it was 17 or 18 years old. His first year, when he went to a Pittsburgh training camp, he came back and he had a training program after practice, me and him, we're always like stretching together, working out after practice. We're doing extra, we're going to the gym in the afternoon and yeah, we, we get along really well together. His work ethic was, was almost perfect and he's a, he's a machine in the gym. He's really, really strong for his size. I'm not surprised. He's still playing at, what, 30, 37? Yeah. Not surprised. It was always in good shape. Always ready. That's amazing, man. It's amazing. Like just getting the opportunity to talk to so many high level hockey people like yourself and just work ethic. It's such like a simple thing. But it's everything, like it's, it's literally everything. And like you even talk about like, hey, we stretched after practice. Like all the elite players that I know, maybe not all, but a lot of, like they, like it's simple as that they stretch, like they take care of their body. And they do stuff like that. And it just, it goes such a long way. And, and I kind of want to go back to something and I don't know if this is going to be a controversial statement or whatnot, but like just the way that hockey has gone from kind of like when we were growing up to where it's at today, it's become so much more of a white color sport. And, and all you mentioned, your dad's construction worker and you learned like a lot of the values that, that made you a great hockey player from watching your dad leave early, come home late and go through the grind of, and if anybody works in construction or, or has that you got a fricking work when you're, when you're doing construction, right? And one of the things that worries me a little bit about our sports is that like kids coming through aren't necessarily coming up that much through that blue collar type background anymore. There's a lot of spoon fedness. There's a lot of entitlement and, and it, it honestly like the weight and it's probably a huge sports problem. Maybe it's not just youth hockey, but we probably are more than the other sports a little bit more on the higher expensive, you know, train, let's call it. I don't know. What do you guys think about that? Like we need more kids from some of these like tough blue collar backgrounds getting into our sport. I don't know what you guys see, but I see that. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's obviously it's something that I've noticed for a long time. I wouldn't say hockey's up there. Hockey is probably at the highest. It's insane how expensive it is, especially, you know, I'm sure it's even worse in Canada. Like your dollar is worth like, you know, nothing, you know, but like it's, it's wild here how much hockey costs and now they're playing 70 to 90 games. So they got to go out of town way more, which just jacks cost up even more. Like it's pushing people out of the game and, and, and then you got, you know, not all parents, obviously there's a lot of good ones, but there are some who then want to just do everything for their kid, which then takes out the blue collarness that gets instilled in the kids who maybe, you know, come from, you know, higher, higher income families where things are handed to them, maybe a little bit more, like we need to make it tough on these kids. I peepee slapped the crap out of the high school team I work with last night, cut their session off early because they, they had my gym looking like a mess over in the corner where they're supposed to put away their shoes and their bottles and their backpacks. And I was like, this is embarrassing. This is embarrassing. Like this is not okay. Details are everything in life, whether you want to get better at hockey or school or be a better brother, husband, father, you know, you want better grades, like, I don't care what it is. You pay attention to details and you know better than this. So you guys are going to clean this up and you're, you're done for the night. You're leaving right now. And I said, it's, I'm doing this because I care about you. If I didn't care about you, I wouldn't be this upset and I wouldn't take this 10 minutes to whack you right now and tell you this is not okay and this is not going to help you in the rest of your life. You know, I think we need more people to hold, hold kids accountable too. I don't know. Well, I think for me, from what I see in, in Quebec and in Canada, I think if you're going to pay whatever, how much money it is to play in a tournament or to go to a special camp, it's really expensive. So the kid knows, you know, there's not, not everybody can go to that camp. So if you're going to pay like, let's say 2,000 bucks to go to a certain training camp. Wow. There's, there's no, there's no values, you know, and every time I feel now because, because I'm coaching, I feel that it's always that the coaches fault or the teachers fault instead of looking at yourself in the mirror. You know, when I was younger and same thing for you guys, like it made a mistake. It's it's on you. It's okay. We're, we're never going to be perfect when you're going to die, you're never going to be perfect. It's impossible. So I think right now, like the way the society is going is everybody's blaming each other and because, and another thing is the, like if you look at the NHL, all the young guys have the big contract, or almost like when we came in, when we came in, you have to grind in the HL and I remember like Grand Rapids, it was 100% sure all the rookies that were going three, four years in the HL grinding. When they were coming up, it was like the, after that, the 2008, 2009, Stanley Cup, they have good teams, but I remember the, in those days, all the kids were going to Grand Rapids for a few years. And I don't know, maybe you changed the perception, all the contracts were built and I don't know if you remember, you guys, they have the bridge contract before, yep, the three, three year contract with the, I don't know, and now they like right here in Montreal, they gave eight years to Slafkowski, he's played like four, whatever, one full season, wild, wild, I'm fine. I'm fine. That's good for him. That's the, I have no problem against that, but I'm pretty, I'm sure that this kid is a, can't miss, he's a top prospect, but for sure, he's not thinking like he's not going to grind it out and he's, right, his mentality changed for sure. Right. Not the same guide and two years ago, before his contract. That's what I want to say. Right. And that's probably trickling down in hockey. Like, I played with Marshawn in the AHL for like a year and a half, Tuka Rask. I think he was two years McQuaid, two and a quarter years, like all these guys who were doing stays. Yeah. Like all these guys are mainstays in the NHL for still are some of them, you know, and they had the battle and grind, it gives you perspective and you know, like what I've been hearing, probably, you know, I've had my company for 16 years for pros and 13 or 14 for everybody below pros. And I remember probably about eight years ago, I started hearing kids in the US just be like out of midgets. Yeah. Like I'm going to go to the USHL next year and then I'm going to go to, go to D one and I'm like, Oh, you're just, you're just going to go to the USHL. You're the 16 D man on your team, like, you will be lucky if the first D man on your team makes the USHL and now the USHL is even like a billion times better and more skilled. And everybody, because I think a social media and the internet and everybody sees what everybody's doing now. So then they just think, Oh, I'm the same age as him. I can do that too. And it's like, well, that dude's putting in work every single day, doing everything. And you're eating burgers and sleeping in the fart sack all day. Like you need to do more, buddy, you know, what's, what's the fart sack? Like when you wrap the covers around you, just chilling and farting and you're smelling your own farts. What's that thing called the Dutch oven? The Dutch oven yourself. Is that where you fart and then you like put the covers over the blanket over the person in bed with you? Yeah. I've never done that before. I don't know what you're talking about. I think you've probably done that to me. Okay. Well, getting, getting back to hockey talk. So Ali, one of the things I talk about a lot when I, when I speak on here and speak with players is like, when it comes to player development, I think it's so important to, to be versatile. I think a coach calling you versatile is one of the best compliments that you can get for a whole lot of different reasons and just talking to Vex and just kind of knowing your story, reading up on you a little bit beforehand, that was something that you took a lot of pride in. You took a lot of pride and not just playing on the power play, but in the penalty kill and being able to be put out in all different situations, playing up and down the lineup and everything like that. And now you're coaching and, and you know, a lot of kids underneath you know, what first of all, why is it important to be a versatile player and number two, how could you try and instill that in youth hockey players coming up today? Well, the main reason why I'm coaching is because when I was young, I was getting a lot of points and I was a offensive player all the time. Okay. From mid to triple A junior major, then I got to pro HL, then I hit the wall. I was like, okay, I can play, can play on the third line, can play on the fourth one. Never play to shift PK in my life. I was 20 years old. So now I'm coaching kids. I'm telling them at 13, 14 years old, play every position or try, play power play, play PK, take face off. They need, they need to have a chance to, to feel it, what it's like to take the last draw of the game with 15 seconds left and they need to, to understand that if you're going to play offense and have a career in the NHL, you're, you better be good. You better be really, really good because it probably won't happen. I don't want to be negative or anything, but those guys were like Crosby, McDavid, the dry side, they're super elite, super elite. When there's another range of players, like, like us, we didn't make it to the NHL. If I knew what I knew when I retired at 33 or 34, 35 years old, I'm not saying I would play in a shot, I would have played in a shot, but maybe I would, I would have a few games. I'm pretty sure because when I was in the system, I was not mature enough with my game. I was, I didn't know how to play on the fourth line, I didn't, because all they were asking me is to score goals and make points. So, you know, when you get older in hockey, like, you get to 30 years old, you need to find a new role and new style of play because you're losing speed, you're, you're not the same player than you were at 22 years old. So that's when I play with Vex, that's how I, I saw the game and I was like, yeah, I just want to be versatile and just want to help the team and have fun and win games. That's, that's all that matters. And I wish I had that attitude when I was 20 years old. That's why I'm coaching. Same, bro. I mean, that's, dude, that's why I wanted to have you on the podcast. You know, you and Toph are very similar. You're two very wise hockey minds, like I love to talk, Ollie and I and, and Fwigs, Fwigs, I hope you listen to this, bro, I freaking love you. I'm going to send this to Fwigs. That's Gilly, you know, like we had great talks about hockey, about like little details and like the stuff that we talked about on this podcast. I was not into that stuff when I was younger, even at the beginning of my pro career, I didn't get into that until I got to Europe and I was like, wow, like now I have to like really be successful and a better than everybody else to keep signing contracts or else they're just going to get the next guy who's leaving the AHL to come over here. Like I got to keep progressing and putting up more points and providing value or else my career is literally over. And you know, the same as Ollie, like you find new ways to contribute and you wish you knew that stuff at the beginning of your pro career, at the beginning of your junior career and Ollie, that is why Toph and I do this podcast, bro, as we do this every week, we've done it since I retired in 2018. So going on five years now, I think it is, you know, over 300 episodes. And this is like the stuff we talk about and all these coaches that listen, we're trying to get them to instill this stuff in their players. I can't tell you how many times we've talked about how we want every kid when they're younger to play all the positions feel what you're left winger. I was a left winger. Okay. I want you playing defense this whole weekend because I want you to feel what it feels like to have a forechecker coming up your ass trying to crush you. So now you know as a forward what it's like. So you're actually going to pick for that D man and you have some perspective. Now you actually get more time for him to make a play. You get a better pass. You're a better player because you play defense for a weekend in squirts. You know, I wish we knew that stuff, but that's why we do this podcast to try and put that stuff out there from high level players. And Toph like Ali was one of the smartest hockey guys I played with. I love listening to this guy talk about hockey man. Well, the way we were, I have one story for you when I was in my first exhibition game in the NHL after a morning skate, the coach comes to me and is like, you're going to play right wing tonight. I look at him and I'm never pleased right wing in my life. Like, that's not, that's not fun. You know, that's, that's not funny. You're like 20, 19, 20 years old, you're an NHL camp, never played wing in your life. That's not optimal to me. Wow. Yeah, no, it's not. I always played center because, you know, when we were younger, the center always gets the puck and always get more points and stuff. But I always remember that story and I tell my guys all the time. I'm like, I don't want you to, to experience that. It's not, not good. What'd you say when he said that you were just like, yeah, and then like turn around and like, oh my God, are you like, I've never played around and I took, I took Rims. Of course you did, I was like, okay, yeah, I got to prepare for tonight. We always used to tell that to our guys when I was coaching in college, when they were going to NHL development camps and stuff, when the coaches ask you what position you play, you say forward, you don't say center, you don't say what you say forward, wherever you need me coach, like wherever you need me, just opens up that, the opportunities and stuff. And yeah, I think it's funny, like we have a lot of people that we've talked to and it's not even necessarily like at the NHL level, but even like to juniors or to college, like guys who didn't play a specific position or didn't play a specific role on a team, and then they were asked to play that role. And then they had to fight it out, you know, they, they, they didn't know how to really relish in that kind of maybe bottom six role or on a different position and stuff like that. And they wish it's the same thing. I wish I would have played that, you know, or I wish my coaches would have held me accountable to playing both ways when I was younger. And I could have ascended to potentially a different level and maybe even had a different career. And so yeah, like just being versatile and having all those skills to be able to play up and down a lineup, like it's just going to give you more opportunity to play at the end of the day. And now that you're coaching though, like how do you develop that in players? And Vex and I talk all the time, like, hey, like if you're not hard on your top guys, you're doing them a disservice and a lot of youth coaches don't want to be hard on their top guys because they want their top guys feeling good. And they score so they win games, but it's not necessarily great for their development as a hockey player, right? So like how do you feel like as a smart hockey player yourself now that you've gotten into coaching too? How can you develop some of those intangibles like some of those things that Vex you talked about what you would talk about in the locker room before the game or after practice and stuff. How do you develop that in players? Well, I think the first thing it's my 50 years as a head coach and we always make mistake, you know, like every year you learn something. And one of the things that I'm thinking about is those kids are born in born in 2010 or 2008. They're not born in '86, so they don't have the same background in us, they're not raised the same way. Well, that's the first thing, like I think at first when I started coaching, I expect every player to train like me, to work like me and stuff. And it's impossible. If you expect that from all of your players, they're like 14, 15 years old, it's impossible. I try to remember when I was 14, 15 years old, I was a kid, I was eating ice cream, I was having fun with my friends and that's okay, you know, but you just, I just have to put my glasses that, my thinking that they're 15 and 14 years old, 16 years old. And I have one player from last year, I have so many stories like so many times that happen, like guys are coming, knock on the door and they say, "All right, why I'm not playing, why I'm not playing?" Okay, so I try to explain to him, "Okay, you do this, you do that, and every time a player comes and knock on my door and say, "What can I do to help the team?" I'm like, to help the team, I'm like, "This is it, I'm not telling the player, but this guy's going on the first line tomorrow." That's all I want. Dude, I love that. I love that. I don't want that. I don't want you to tell me why you're not playing, what can you do to help the team? That's it. And every time I told you. And every time a guy knock on the door and say, "What can I do to help the team to have more ice time?" I'm like, "Okay, that's the best part, that's the best part. You want to help the team that the rest doesn't matter, but you're going to play more for sure." That's actually a really good point, when we talk about developing versatile players, a lot of what versatility and intangibles, what that is, is how do you, you're a winner. What are the little things that you can grasp and the little things that you can execute on during a game that's going to help your team win that might not show up on the score sheet? And there's so many different things that that encompasses, but I never really thought about it that way. But you're so right, Ollie. It's just like, it's those little intangibles that help a team win. And that could be from an actual hockey playing standpoint, or it could be even something as simple as like, "This person's engaged on the bench." When our team blocks a shot, he's up and he's making sure that he's given the guy a pat on the ass when he comes back to the bench. Just like these little hockey knowledge, how is it going to help our team win type stuff? And dude, I absolutely love what you said. Last year, we had a guy and he knocked, he knocked on the door and it was time to close the team. So I told him, "I have one spot for you, it's on the fourth line, thinner fourth line. You're not going to play a power play." I made it worse for him, you know. So everything it was giving after was extra, was a plus. I'm like, "You're going to play 10 minutes, you're going to play fourth line, no power play." And he's like, "Where's the pen?" I'm like, "That's it, I'm in." And I searched his background and this guy was like working at night and arena minimum salary to pay his training camp. So I was like, "Okay, this kid knows what it means. He's not going to Super Training Camp and Nashville and it's going to cost $10,000, that's not it. He's working to pay his training camp with us. He's always going to be proud. And same thing happened, like one month ago, I'm going to the restaurant and there's a kid, he's at my training camp. He's like, "Can I give you something?" And I was like, "Ah, you're a waiter here, you're working all the time." He's like, "Yeah, like every day till 10 o'clock to pay my training camp." I was like, "Okay, this is the right guy, you know?" He knows what his work ethic. I'll tell you something on the flip side, yeah, if there's guys whose families can't afford to train with me but they work hard, you know, "Okay, pay me whatever you can or if you can't afford anything, fine, clean the gym, like whatever to get you in here." On the flip side, like that right there is what I'm looking for, like the guys will do anything to make it, to be there, you know, whatever that worked all night long, to make money for training camp. I've had guys who like, "I'll be like, okay, yeah, you know, you can't afford it, fine, I'll train you for free." And then they're coming in every week with new shoes or new tattoos. And I'm like, "I'm training you for free." And like, I know by that, like they're never going to make it as far as they could because like, that's their mindset, you know, and I just realized that recently he was reflecting on it, like who doesn't pay me and, you know, who do these things. And I was like, that would never be a thing, you know, that's the complete opposite of this guy who's doing everything he can just to make enough money to get to training camp. And like those are the guys who are listening when you coach, those are the guys who are staying after to do extra, they have perspective and it goes back to what Tof was talking about the beginning. The beginning of the show, you know, we need to get the blue collarness kind of mindset back into the game. There's a really good story. So, Ollie, did you ever, when you were in Phoenix, I don't know if it would have been around this time, but Barry Smith, was he there when you were around? Yeah. Yeah. So, so we've, we have a partnership with Barry, he does a bunch of different stuff with us and he's obviously a great hockey mind and one of the stories he tells is, and then I'm going to butcher it. He tells it way better, but he talks about Team Canada, you know, when they go to the Olympics or they go to these big events or whatever, and he's like, there's one person who every time, you know, they have their first meeting, he raises his hand, he says, I got, I got third line center and the kids are like, well, who is it? He's like Wayne Gretzky. And the kids are like, wait, what? He's like, yeah. And it basically, it was Gretzky's way of telling the entire team that like, I'm no better than anybody else. I will play whatever role I need to play to help this team win. Like, I don't need any, like, and that's just like, dude, that's why he's the greatest ever. It's why he's won so many Stanley Cups and all that kind of stuff. And it's just like getting back to that humility, that humbleness, that blue collar, tight mentality. It's just, it's, and even like what you're saying, like, and that's the thing that kids need to know. When a scout comes up to you, Ollie, and he is asking about different kids or whatever, like, who do you think kids, he's going to be like, I love this, you know, like, coaches want to know that kind of stuff. And scouts get excited when they hear about the blue collariness and all that. Like, you want, like, you pull for those kids. Those are like your, your teacher's pet, like your coach's pet kind of people. You always want them to do well, right? So yeah, man, I just think that that's really cool. And, you know, as you were going through your journey, were there, was there anybody, you know, being in the levels that you've been at, playing in the queue, playing pro for as long as you did, are there any guys that you played with that really epitomize that? You know, that maybe, maybe didn't have the skill at the beginning, but like just absolutely grinded, absolutely worked their way to become an everyday NHL or maximize their abilities. Is there one that stands out to you? I'm trying, trying to change, but one guy that's surprising was a lack of a rub of love. And really, Quebec's, yeah, I was playing in Quebec City. It was, it was like, you finished top score, or he was really, really good, but he was so intense, he worked so hard. And I try to remember, oh, yeah, no, there's one guy I was working out in the summer with was Max Intell, but from Pittsburgh, Penguins, we have the same agent, these two years older than me from the same town, or almost the same town. So my agent introduced me to Max when I was 15 or 16 years old. And we started working out together in the summer. And he was drafted seven round, I think, and he was a captain and gatino in the queue. And one, two championships, and he was twice the MVP. The only players in the history of the queue is him and Gillifler with two MVP. It's a pretty good company and Max is not like super skills or anything, but he was working hard and his work ethic was crazy, crazy, and he was always positive and always happy to be a gym talking to the guy, the ultimate team player, you know, even in the summer time. So when you got to Pittsburgh and we were watching the game, and I said, for sure, Max is going to score the game winning goal for Stanley Cup and game seven, two goals. Yeah, score two goals at game. So I was, I was surprised, but I was not surprised at the same time because he was such a hard worker and he was such a true teammate, a real player. Yeah. That's awesome, man. That's so cool. Yeah. I remember watching that game. He sniped, but was a top glove over Osgood, I think, the game winner, right? Yeah. To me, it was a great influence when I was younger, like having two years difference and having the same agent. So I was always like looking, looking up to him a little bit. That's awesome. Um, next thing I want to ask you to, and Vex alluded to it a little bit earlier. So I don't know if you know this, you can't see, but I'm five foot four, not the tallest person in, in the entire world. And I know you're not quite to my stature, but not, not the biggest guy either. And I love when bringing really high level hockey people on who aren't the biggest because most people playing hockey aren't above six foot. Most kids play and are a little bit smaller and they got to find a way to, you know, maximize their abilities to get to specific levels and stuff like that. So if you had any advice for any smaller kids out there, smaller players that have high hopes and dreams of playing at some high levels, what would you tell those kids? You need to skate. You need to have a really, really good skating because really, really good speed cause if you're small, you're not strong, you need to have the speed, but you know, I was, I'm not the tallest guy, but I was, you know, Vex, I was really strong for my size and I was like 200 pounds too. So I never, I never felt it because I was really strong and I was kind of heavy for my size, but number one thing, if you're a small player, you want to play in the NHL especially today, you need, you need to have a great speed to move your feet and that's number one thing for me if you're small. Crap. I didn't have that either. Very much. You were a good, you were a good skater, I was, you were, you were, I wasn't a meat skater by any means. So yeah, I would, I would have made a story about when Shafer created me to Cornell. No. That was really funny. So and Scotty, girl, who was the main recruiter for me would, would tell me this story, you know, he would go to shave the head coach and typically the assistant coaches are doing 90% of the recruiting, right? So Scotty goes to shave and he's like, Hey, you know, I got a kid. I think we want to offer. She's like, Okay, tell me about him. It's like, is he big? No, no, not really. Well, he must be fast then, right? No, no, he's not really that fast. Oh, he's got to be really, really strong, then, right? No, no, he's not really that strong. What the hell does he do, you know, like, and, uh, they got, they actually didn't recruit me, but what is it you do here? Yeah. What would you say you do here? Oh, man. Yeah. No, Ollie was super strong. He's also very unassuming to like he was built like a square just a square on the ice, just like a tripod. Like you just couldn't knock him over in low center gravity. Like Nate Gerby, like, like super hard to hit. Just really good center gravity, really good balance. Um, yeah, he worked for it. I saw it all the time, you know, like he wasn't an accident, wasn't an accident. But dude, I told Ollie, I told Tope that you have one of my favorite stories in all of hockey and he's brought up the Phoenix training camp a couple of times and I have not told him this story, I just said, wait till you hear this story. It's so, it's so my favorite story. Anybody who grew up around our age and watched this guy. So you got to tell Tope my favorite story from training camp. Well, it was, uh, around the 2005, so Phoenix had to hold the country club, you know, they had all the Nolan, Jeremy, Ronie, breath on all those guys. So I'm doing the training camp. And one time we're playing a game and, uh, I'm going on a tour on the one with, uh, Brett all and he's open and he's on the one timer at the blue line. I see a stick upstairs. I'm, I'm a pretty good passer. Oh, no, and I think I'm a pretty good passer and a demand went on, on all, you know, cause he's like, I don't care if I let this kid shoot. So I wait, I wait, I try to pass him, try to pass him. I can't pass it. I can't move the fog right in the chest of the goalie, we skate, we skate in the corner. There's a whistle. I skate in the corner. And he's like, Hey kid, how many goals do you have in the NHL? Zero, like I have 750 pass it a pass it across, please. I like it. All right. What can I say? You know? Oh, good. So good. So good. Yeah, just take it all, take it all, take it all. It was like in Phoenix, at that time, they have really good veterans. You know, they have old timers, you know, like all the famers and stuff. And yeah, it was really, really old school. I can just imagine in that training camp too, the defenseman who was doing that two on one. He was probably messing with you, hoping that that was going to happen and just taken whole away, taken all away, taken all away, just being like, I can't wait to see what Paul is going to say when this kid, the worst thing is that that year he was sitting next to me in the room. So I was always like, it was, it was really nice. I was always talking to him every morning and I was 18 years old. He was 40 40 or 41 and I was like, okay, that's going to happen to me once in my life. I'm sitting next to all the famer, like 750 goals in the NHL and it was good because I kind of felt like at ease right away, you know, you're talking to the biggest legend of the team and he's nice guy too. So when I talked to the other players, it was, it was a, it was a fun time in Phoenix. I really like it. And you were talking about Barry Smith before. That guy is amazing, so smart, oh, smart, it was taught, I remember it's been a while, but he was talking to me about that Sook and Zetterberg, how they found them and Littstrom and all those guys in Detroit and I was so, so impressed with that guy. I wish, I wish I could, I could talk to him once and just, just to see how he's going because he was a really, really nice guy and was always talking to us. I can say, you know, you know, and it's, it's really funny because I was a, I was there on their, a tryout and that's when you see like the, the real leadership and stuff, like all the, all the guys like Shane Jones and stuff, they were coming to us and give us their number. If you're ever in trouble, we're going to help you guys and I was like, okay, that's, I took lessons there, you know, I was like, okay, that's real leadership. That's really cool. That's really, really cool. And Barry, Barry Smith was like that too, was always taking care of the kids and it was fun. That's awesome. So he's, he's basically retired now, at least from any official capacity work and, and so he got in touch with me and, and he's come with me to come and work with a couple different youth organizations and youth teams and stuff and he gets in front of the kids and tells some of these stories about some of these guys who were talking about the Datsukes and the Zedibirds. The best one I think that he tells is of Panerran actually. So he was in Chicago and Panerran was there and he talks about how Panerran and I'll get this story wrong, but you'll get the sense of it. So basically he grew up with not a ton of money, you know, I don't think his dad was around. He was living with his mom, his grandma, and he basically had to take a bus to the rink every day. And so he take the, he, you know, he'd pay the bus driver, whatever it was, bus driver would take him to the rink, bus driver would take him back or whatever. And unbeknownst to him, this bus driver knew this kid was like a really good hockey player and didn't have a ton of money. So he actually like pocketed all the money that Datsuke, or not Datsuke, that Panerran would pay, you know, to get to the rink. And at the end of the season, that bus driver bought him like a brand new pair of skates. It was like the first time he'd ever gotten like an actual brand new pair of skates or whatever. And then all of a sudden like Panerran becomes this guy that he's making what, 10, 11 million dollars in the NHL right now, but he came from those like unbelievably humble beginnings. And I've seen Barry stand up and tell this story to kids whose parents can afford for them to go to a hockey academy. You know, it's like, Hey, man, you better be grateful for the stuff that you have. And just because you have this stuff doesn't mean you're going to make it like here's here's a kid who literally came from nothing and he's one of the top players in the NHL. And it does like you talk about don't and some of these other guys like it takes a little bit of like people looking out for you and like this bus driver. Can you believe that? Like he didn't, he kept the kids money, didn't pay himself with it and bought this kid a pair of skates at the end of the season. The first like really nice pair of skates he ever had in his entire life. I don't know, man, I just like, yeah, Barry's the best. I'll have to put you guys in touch. Yeah, for sure, those kinds of stories are are just stuff of legend, absolute legend. So good stuff. Facts. You got anything else? What do you have? Any good stories. Ollie, Ollie, you got any good stories about facts? Like anything, anything that could, uh, you know, get them in trouble or anything like that. Oh, yeah. Well, there's a few, uh, a few, uh, I don't know, I don't know. It was, uh, it was a fun year playing with Vex and, uh, you know what? One thing that I really like and I want to, I want to mention it is, uh, you may, you may think it's, it's nothing but for us, like French speaking guys, like we feel more. Like, uh, the European, when they come to North America, you know what I mean? You know, like when, when a Russian players coming to, uh, Montreal to play, I really understand what he feels because it was, it was like me when I was 20 years old going to the States. I didn't, I didn't speak English, you know, so I felt like I was an outsider. But what I want to say is that Jeff was playing with me and David Gilbert, two French guys and we were always speaking French together and wearing and stuff and he was always with us and he, I'm pretty sure he didn't understand anything. It was nice, uh, it was nice on your part to, to just, uh, accept and, uh, have fun with us. Even, even sometimes we lacked respect and speaking our own language. No, it was a great, it was a great year. I had a great time playing with these guys. It was, it was a lot like, I knew we'd have a good time on this podcast because you and, you and Ollie are very similar, very wise, wise guys, sit back, notice everything are, are the opposite of me loud out there in idiot, you know, like you guys are, you, you're smart. I'm stupid. I'm good looking. You're not. It's just, it's, it's, uh, it was a really fun year and I learned a lot. I learned a lot from tender, even though it was my last year playing, I learned a lot and it was, uh, I'm glad we got you on here, but Ollie, what are you doing now, man? Like who are you coaching? You have hockey camps. Like what are you doing? Yeah. Uh, the good thing is when I, when I went to friends, I knew I was going to retire. Maybe I thought I was going to play for one more year in France and Grenoble. Then I went another year in Ajay, another team. They had a new, uh, new project and I knew the GM there and it was fun, but though I took those two years to build my, my hockey academy and, uh, kind of prepare for my after hockey. So I was, I was, uh, planning stuff. I was, uh, calling people and, uh, it was, it was nice, it was nice to, to take that time and I have two years getting paid playing hockey, but at the same time, uh, thinking about what's next and especially with the, I had my two kids there in France. So, uh, it was great. So when, when I retired, I had a job offer in January. So I knew right away I was, I was going to quit. So I didn't go home and sit and wait. I, I knew right away what I was doing. So I start latan dress hockey. It's my hockey school and it's, uh, for our youth, just the development and, uh, we just finished, uh, elite, uh, week with some of the players, uh, 2010 born and I was fun. And I have a program this summer with, uh, youth like they, they, M, M9, M11, M13, really young kids were just teaching the basic, uh, power skating and skills. And, uh, the other, the other part is I'm coaching in, uh, midget AAA, M18 AAA in Quebec, which is the league below the, the queue. So I've been there, uh, for, it's my third year this year. So it's, uh, really nice cause I get guys who are 15, 16 years old and, uh, next year they go playing the queue and some of them I just saw that they're invited to, uh, under 17 and under 18, uh, team Canada training camp. So awesome. That's fun. That's fun. Yeah. Trying to, uh, give them or my passion. Love that bro. Love that. And your wisdom man. Like I, like I said, learned a lot from, from playing with you, just zooming out, thinking about life, thinking about the game. I had a really, really good time playing with you. I was really fortunate that that was my last year and that you got you and Gilly were there, uh, just from the, the life side of things with what I was going through with the divorce and stuff like that, I'll forever be grateful for you guys. Um, but, uh, yeah, I mean it, man, really truly do. Um, I kind of did the same thing too, Ollie, where a little bit different for me, though, I had so many concussions that after my third year before I started my European career, I started my training company. So I built it up for six summers before I retired after my 10th year pro walked into a pretty large business right away. How important do you think that is for guys? And did it help you doing that your, your last couple of years? I mean, I remember talking to you preparing for life after hockey when we were in for hair bar and I think you were doing like, um, fuck, were you doing finance courses or something? Right? Right? But you were, you were finding out things. Do I like this? Do I not like this probably helped you, you know, play better hockey because you weren't just always thinking about hockey and kind of, kind of preparing yourself for life after not throwing in the towel by any means, but just like, what else do I want to do? I've done this one thing for my whole life. And I think it's really important that guys start to do that at some point away from the rink during their career. Yeah. What are your thoughts on that? Well, that's one point that I wish I knew when I was younger, like, if you're going to school, if you're learning something different or if you're doing another activity, it's not going to ruin your game, you know, and when I wasn't, when I wasn't fair or I start, I took a whatever, what's that? I don't, I don't remember a stock market was at stock with some stocks, no, like a nutritionist. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because I just had nothing to do. I was like, okay, I'm going to take a class. And I'm going to learn the basic and just learn new things. And I'm going to test everything. That's what I did that year in favor. I was studying all the time. And I'm not using it today. It's not, I'm not, I'm not using it, but it was just like, it was really good for me. I was thinking about something else plus I had the two kids that really changed everything when you have kids, you know, because when you're, when you're alone and you're just playing hockey or like, okay, that's my life. You're going to the gym twice a day. And sometimes you don't realize it, but you're doing too much. And when I got the kids, I was like, okay, if, if they're sick tomorrow, tomorrow I'm going to miss practice. That's the way it is. And it doesn't matter. You know, if I miss a game, what can I do with kids are number one priority. So it changed everything. So that's when I knew I was ready to retire. But like you said, I was trying things at the beginning. I thought I want to be like a strength coach in the gym and a skill coach on the ice. But no, after 10 or 15 practices and a skill coach, I thought, no, that's not for me. I really like to, I really like to coach a team and see the chemistry. And I think if you, if you could, if you would coach like basketball or another sport, I think it's the same basic, you know, like, that's what's fun about a team. It's not the game itself, you know, I don't, I don't watch hockey that much at night. I don't, I'm not crazy. And I think if you would coach basketball, I think it's what's the best part of it is team chemistry and to see the team grow together. That's, that's what I like. I don't like to go on the ice and do inside edges for 45 minutes. That's not my thing. I think we just became best friends. Yeah, you two are hilariously alike, it is so funny. That's unreal about it. But you know, like sometimes I, I try to tell my, my, my players can, you know, they're so crazy with their agents, parents, whatever. And they say, oh, I got a concentrate on hockey, got to play hockey, I'm going to be the best player as possible. Yeah. You go to school till 12, it won't change anything to your game for a game tonight or go watch a movie the night before with your friends, I have popcorn that you're just going to be happy and you're going to come to the ring. You're going to have fun and that's all that is, you know, like sometimes I thought when I think back about my career, sometimes I was not having enough fun while I was playing. There's times to be serious. There's time to be fun and be with your friends. I try, I try it. I'm trying it. I'm working on it, but it's, it's my weakness. I would say that's a cool dude. This is like looking at a mirror man talking to you. It's insane. I know what you're talking about now, Vex, I'm the same way, man. That's one of my biggest regrets in playing is that I wish I would have done what you're saying. Like to pump the brakes a little bit at times, not put so much pressure on myself. Just play because you love the game. You know, like that's such an important part of even if you do want to be an elite player, like you have to have some of that balance and you have to, you have to have some of that psycho crazy pressure stuff, but you also need to be able to balance that out and live a life as a human being too. And so I totally agree with you, man. That's something I think about all the time and I would have had a little bit more fun when I played and probably would have played a little bit longer. And at a higher level had I had that mindset a little bit more as I was kind of coming up. So yeah, I feel you think about a lot. For sure. For sure you would have your thinking would have been different. You would just enjoy being at the rink and sometimes, you know, I felt to when we were playing, coaches were not, were different than today. It was always like pressure and it was sometimes it was not fun playing hockey. You kind of lost that when we, when you go play American League and pro and stuff, you kind of lose that. But on the other hand, like, right, we're not going to make it, you know, you're not going to, even if you play in the NHL, it's going to hand some day. So we just have fun, you know, like my brother had concussion and he quit hockey 26 and he was having fun. And when he retired, he was like, yeah, I'll play in H.L. I don't, I don't care. I was having fun. Even if I would play in France or Kazakhstan, I would have the same fun and playing in the NHL. There's no difference to me. I, I like that side of him because he's think nothing, nothing seriously and he's just having fun and enjoying every day. Yeah. I totally agree. I was the same as you guys until I went to Europe. And I got a dog around Christmas, my first year or my second year in Europe. And that changed everything for me because I had this aha moment. I would come home. I used to bring the game home with me, practice, game day, workout, didn't matter. I'm thinking about hockey, where can I get better, you know? And I'd come home and I never had a dog before. And I'd see my little dog and she wagged her little tail with me and I would completely stop thinking about hockey. I would, you know, start raising this dog and potty trainer and I had this like other thing that I had to really focus on that also brought me a lot of joy and was fun. And then I realized, oh man, when I get away from the rink, like if I'm at the rink dialed, workout dialed, watching video dialed, but now I go home, I can like relax and I still can go to the rink and be dialed and then not be a psycho the rest of the day. You know, and it's like kind of like compartmentalizing and being able to be where your feet are, I guess it is, you know? And you're not at the rink. You don't need to be at the rink. Leave the game there and be able to be a human and do these other things and have fun. Like you said, go to the movies with players, you know, my first year of juniors, I put so much damn pressure on myself because I was getting healthy scratch and I never had that happen before. I went from nasty skill guy to absolute bender, could barely play in the USHL at 17, you know? And like, and all I did was think about hockey, it's like, man, if I would have just like taken a deep breath and let my butt hole relax just a little bit, maybe I would have enjoyed myself to rink and I would have gotten more out of it, which I was able to do once I went and played in Europe, for the most part every year over there. Amen, boys, amen. Well, let's leave it there. No, Ollie, we do want to keep you for a couple more questions, 10 questions. And this is going to be housed on our Facebook hockey community, hockey think tank community. And every week we do this with our guests. So for everybody listening, if you want more, go to community.thehockeythinktank.com. And Ollie, man, this was awesome. Thank you so much for coming on today. I can see why I've actually so pumped to have you. This is great. Yeah, it was fun. Good questions. I really like your questions and sometimes you're doing a podcast or a show like that and it's not the same. It's not that fun. So thank you guys. Two million downloads for a reason, bro. Because of you. Thank you. of the day. Thank you. (upbeat music)
This week Topher and Jeff welcome one of Vechs’ former teammates and 14 year pro, Olivier Latendresse. We dive into so many topics on the game and had an absolute blast!
In this episode we talk about:
— Being present and enjoying the hockey journey
— The importance of versatility & hard work
— Preparing for life after hockey - regardless of how long you play
— An UNREAL Brett Hull story
AND SO MUCH MORE!
Toph’s fundraiser for Team Racker - a team supporting Racker Rivals Big Red 2024:
https://www.givegab.com/p2p/racker-rivals-big-red-2024/topher-scott
Thank you to our title sponsor IceHockeySystems.com, as well as Train-Heroic, CuredNutrition, Helios Hockey, and, our newest sponsor, Crossbar!
And thank you to our AMAZING LISTENERS; We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!
If you’d like to join our Hockey Think Tank Community, head over to Community.TheHockeyThinkTank.com and check it out!
This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp.
